ukeplayalongs

A little history and future plans for UkePlayAlongs

This channel was created in 2017, as I began to make resources for ukulele based on my own teaching. This included play along videos, in the style of Dr. Jill Reese, as well as tutorials and reviews. When I reached the threshold to monetize this channel, YouTube denied my ability to monetize the channel, so I changed the name of this channel from "UkuleleTenor" to "UkePlayAlongs" and then moved non-play along content to a new channel, UkeStuff.

In February 2025, YouTube invited me to resubmit my ability to monetize this channel--I would guess that because their copyright and revenue system has improved greatly (a copyright owner can decide to let you use music and retain all monetization, to share it, or to allow others to use their material).

The first play along video, "If I Had A Million Dollars" was published in February 2017. The first baritone play along video, "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" was published some time later in July 2018. The first tutorial for a play along (on the UkeStuff Channel) was in May of 2019. I even published some "chord chart" only videos for a while, but they simply were not being used and not worth the effort to create.

In 2017 & 2018, I was quite prolific, publishing several videos a week (I think the record was 10). This was slowed down as I added more versions and tutorials.

As a result, there are a lot of videos on this channel without baritone versions, tutorials, or chord charts (or tabs).

I have started the process of adding baritone versions, tutorials, and chords charts to the missing songs...a project that will take YEARS to complete.

My goal right now is to publish a new song every two weeks, and missing content (baritone and tutorials) as I finish them, hopefully at least one song per week. For now, UkePlayAlongs will remain play-along ONLY, though do make sure to vote in the next post about your feelings for the content for UkePlayAlongs.

Please keep in mind that I am always creating a lot of other resources for ukulele (reviews, chord melody tutorials, miscellaneous posts) at the same time and publishing all of them on YouTube.com/ukestuff.

You can also find indices for all of these play alongs on my channel at UkeStuff.info.

And let me remind you that while I have a couple of resources behind a paywall at www.buymeacoffee.com/ukestuff, everything on UkeStuff.info is free. You should be able to make a donation (if desired) towards this work on this channel, on the UkeStuff channel, or at www.buymeacoffee.com/ukestuff.

Thanks so much for reading about this channel and your support!

1 year ago | [YT] | 24

ukeplayalongs

Want to commission a Ukulele Play Along video?

Over the years, there have been thousands of requests for play along videos, but very little financial support from viewers of this channel. To be clear, this channel cannot be monetized due to the play alongs, and any ad revenue is shared between the copyright holder and YouTube/Google. That is okay, because it allows these videos to use that music (with a few exceptions, such as the Beatles) and for you, the viewer, to have access to these play alongs for free. That said, it takes about six hours to create play alongs and tutorials for each song. And yes, there are tutorials for every new song on the sister channel (which does earn revenue) at YouTube.com/ukestuff.

You can always support this work by buying me a cup of coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/ukestuff.

That said, Buy Me a Coffee just introduced a way to allow people to commission work; so I have created an option to commission a ukulele play along. If you have a song you would like to see as a play along, you now have an option to make that happen. There are some conditions—(Go to the commission area on my Buy Me a Coffee page to see them), but this is a way you can directly support the work here on this channel, as well as to have the play along that you have always wanted.

Please visit my Buy Me a Coffee page to learn more:

www.buymeacoffee.com/ukestuff

3 years ago | [YT] | 17

ukeplayalongs

Are you learning to play the ukulele or want to learn how to play the ukulele? GCEA U and DGBE U are FREE systematic courses to get going on the ukulele whether you are learning soprano, concert, or tenor (GCEA) or baritone (DGBE). The goal is to prepare you with a solid foundation so you can move on to any of the other wonderful resources that exist in the world. There is a final exam at the end, and teachers can ask for a certificate for 10 hours towards renewing their license. The "textbook" can be found on the GCEA U or DGBE U tabs at ukestuff.info, and the full series can be found on this channel's sister channel, YouTube.com/ukestuff

5 years ago | [YT] | 42

ukeplayalongs

One other thing I wanted to address is the issue of comments. I do hold all comments for review, but publish nearly all of them, and I attempt to respond to all of them. If you respond to a comment to a video, YouTube's interface requires you to accept the comment, and then it disappears into the main comments can be impossible to find it. Youtube allows us to search for comments that we have not responded to, but it doesn't allow us to search for comments to comments that we haven't responded to...it's only a "first tier" of comments tool.

So...if you need a response from me, please just leave a comment on the video itself, rather than to comment on a comment.

I hope that makes sense...and to anyone whose comment has not been responded to, I'm very sorry!

P.S. If you leave a comment asking for the strumming pattern, please read my previous community post!

5 years ago | [YT] | 62

ukeplayalongs

I just wanted to address the most common comment on this channel:
strumming pattern

...or...

strumming pattern?

So...here are the reasons I do not provide a strumming pattern for every video:

1) These videos were created for teachers to use at school. That's also why I make sure the content is clean and safe (sorry to those of you who want play alongs for songs with language and adult topics--I just can't do that). Teachers generally want to instruct how to play a song instead of a video telling them what to do.

2) If I put a strumming pattern into a video (I have a few times over 600 play alongs videos), it can be useful the first time, but on each subsequent repeat it becomes wasted time that you either have to skip or wait for, and in a classroom setting, that means that you lose the attention of your students...not good.

3) These are play alongs. What is important is that you play along with the beat and use a strumming pattern that YOU feel comfortable with, and that YOU think sounds good.

4) These songs generally do not feature ukulele in the original recording. That means that, for the most part, there is no "right" pattern.

5) I understand that some players desperately need a pattern. For that reason, I create a tutorial video on my sister channel. These are linked in the description of every new video.

6) And finally, when I suggest strumming patterns, plenty of people let me know I'm wrong.

Also...did you know that you can find the chord chart or "tabs" for every new video, as it appears on this channel, on ukestuff.info (my Ukulele website/blog)? And it is free (any ads are embedded by Wordpress).

Thanks for watching the videos and playing along...and thank you to the many people that offer positive comments and support the channel!
(Want to support the channel? Check out the text in the description of any newer video to find out how!)

5 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 117